Take It Like a Vamp (3 page)

Chapter Three

Squeezing her hands together to keep them from shaking, Casey stared out the window of the limo. This wasn’t how she’d expected to spend her evening. Her nerves felt like a cat on steroids clinging to a rotating ceiling fan.

This was a bad idea.

Nick traveled in different circles. One where kings, queens, and presidents clinked wine glasses and dressed in the finest clothes money could buy. Her crowd was filled with hipsters and nerds who judged each other by their T-shirts. The more obscure, the better.

Taking her hand in his, Nick squeezed her fingers. “Stop it. I wouldn’t do this to you if it weren’t absolutely necessary. You’ll have a great time.”

She glanced up into his sweet and ever-so sexy dark gray eyes. “Right. And I would do anything to help you. So I’m game. I’ll protect you from the scary Dallas moms, as long as you promise not to leave me alone with these people. I kind of freeze up in social situations.”

Kind of… was relative. In high school, she had a half-page picture with the headline “Quietest Student Ever at McKinley.” Only one of the many reasons she’d burned that book her first year of college. She leaned her head back into the soft leather seat and listened to the hum of the climate control.

While she now had plenty of friends from college and work, she was still painfully shy. Fine in a crowd of people she knew, but put her with strangers…

“You,” he said as he squeezed her hand again, “will not be leaving my side. I don’t trust the wolves. They’ll take one look at you, and then I’ll have to kill them.” He sounded so serious, and then he winked at her, taking the edge from that softly spoken threat. The limo eased to a stop.

“As if,” she whispered as the driver opened her door. She stepped out of the car and noticed where they were. Oh hell.

Salon Six 9 in Fort Worth was owned by the super famous David Blackstock. Celebrities flew him all over the world to do their hair. No doubt he’d take one look at her mop and send her packing.

“Here she is,” the stylist sang as Nick ushered her in the door. She knew Blackstock’s face from all the celebrity magazines, not that she read those sort of things–um, much. But Teddie had subscriptions to all of them, and sometimes Casey couldn’t help herself. Every once in a while she’d see Nick with some Barbie wannabe and she’d scribble over the girl’s face with a black marker.

It wasn’t crazy. It was cathartic.

“David, this is my friend, Casey,” Nick said as she shook the man’s hand. “Mason explained what’s going on, so I’m going to leave her in your capable hands.”

The stylist wiggled his fingers. “Girl, we’re going to make you shine,” he said with a slight southern twang. “Aren’t you a sexy little pin-up? Come on with me, I’ll hook you up.”

Casey liked him instantly.

“This curl is natural?”

She nodded, still not trusting her voice.

He guided her gently into a chair and whirled it around to face the mirror. His hands went into her hair and he fanned it out. “This color just needs a little brightening, something natural, and maybe a few soft caramel low-lights for contrast.” He snapped a black cape in front of her and brought it around her neck, pinning it in back to protect her clothes. “Darlin’ this skin is precious. Women in Hollywood would pay millions for it. What products do you use?”

“Uh, soap and water.”

He stared at her for a moment with his eyebrow up as if he didn’t believe her. Then he waved a hand in the air, laughing like she was joking. “That’s okay sugar, you keep your secrets. Make them wonder.”

“Dana,” he said to the elegant woman standing next to him. “Mix me number 129 with a little 73, just a smidge.”

Then he turned to his right like an animated drill sergeant as he directed his employees. “Maxine, you work on her nails while I do her color, and then you get her pedicure done while she’s under the dryer.” He might look like a male Calvin Klein model, but the man knew his business.

A beautiful woman with coffee-colored skin and beautiful green eyes walked up. “I’m Nikki,” she said as she put her finger on her chin and scrutinized Casey’s face. “Easy, classic features. Look at those cheekbones,” she said to David. “But those bushy eyebrows have to go.” She touched Casey’s arms. “Honey, we are going to make you so beautiful tonight that Nick will have to beat them off with a stick.”

“Stick, hell,” David said. “That boy’s gonna need a shotgun.”

Casey grunted in disbelief.

For the next hour and a half, people buzzed around her like bees on speed. The craziness increased her nerves, as if that were possible. Shutting her eyes, she concentrated on her breathing, something she picked up from one of Aunt Teddie’s yoga DVDs. She always intended to do the yoga poses, but she kept falling asleep during the breathing exercises at the beginning of the DVD.

“Okay, back to shampoo,” David said as he guided her to the rear of the salon. “Ora’s going to wash you out, and then I’ll meet you up front. Linc just arrived with racks of clothes from Neiman’s and his own line. I feel like your damn fairy godmother, only more fabulous.” He gave her a wink and sashayed all six foot three of himself through the doorway.

The shampoo was the best part so far. Ora was a blessedly quiet woman, and her fingers were magic in Casey’s hair. She finally relaxed. The poor woman had to wake her up when she wrapped the towel around her head.

By the time Casey returned to the front of the shop, the place was in chaos. Racks of evening dresses, stacked at least three deep, displayed the most exquisite gowns she’d ever seen.

She swallowed hard. There was no way in hell she could afford one of those dresses. Tonight’s salon visit alone would probably take all the money she had saved. It was worth it to help poor Nick, but she didn’t know what to do, or even how to broach the subject if she came up short.

Nick motioned for her to join him.

“Linc, this is Casey.”

Linc, who was as tall as Nick and David, looked like he’d stepped out of some Ed Hardy ad. He had that edgy biker look, except that he, like Nick, was dressed in a tux. The man was gorgeous. She understood what those southern women meant when they talked about getting the vapors. She felt a little light-headed herself.

“Hi,” she said, slightly bewildered by the handsome men surrounding her.

He took her hand and twirled her around, giving her a low wolf-whistle. “Nick, you are one hundred percent correct. She is a woman with a capital ’W.’ That’s a figure men have started wars over.”

His obvious fib embarrassed her, but before she could form an adequate response, someone yanked her arm. She glanced up to find David pulling her toward a strange machine. “Linc, you had a look, now she’s mine. Find her some dresses to try on. Sophisticated,” he ordered.

Thirty minutes later, she was under a cool dryer with giant rollers in her hair. Nikki straddled her legs while she painted Casey’s face. Never in her life had Casey worn so much makeup.

But she drew the line when the other woman pulled out a box of eyelashes.

“My eyes are super sensitive. The one time I put eyelashes on, my lids swelled shut. The doctor said it had something to do with the glue.”

Nikki nodded. “Then we’ll use my super secret weapon,” she pulled out a tube of mascara. “A few coats of this, and you won’t need false ones.”

“Okay, that’s it,” Maxine said as she carefully took Casey’s hands out of the ultraviolet thingy that dried her nails. “These are gel, so you don’t need to worry about messing them up.” She smudged a finger over Casey’s nail to show her.

“Careful,” Nikki warned as Maxine moved the dryer.

“Oops, sorry.” Maxine smiled.

Casey was surprised no one had been impaled by a mascara wand or curling iron so far. She wasn’t used to all this hustle and bustle, and the attention was overwhelming.

Linc put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The action made her crush on him just a little bit. Was he serious? It was such a biker thing to do. The tats going up his neck were barely visible above his collar and gave him an air of danger, but he had the kindest eyes. It cracked her up that he was a clothing designer. Never again would she stereotype.

“Okay, girls, let’s go,” he said.

“Now, if you see something you like, just point,” Linc said. “Nick and I have both picked out four dresses we liked, but if you don’t care for them we have plenty more.”

The first model wore a frothy sage-colored dress with a V-neck and long sleeves. At first it seemed conservative, until she turned around. It had no back. One false move and there’d be a thong appearance, or worse, a butt crack sighting.

Casey shook her head. The next two dresses were also soft pastels, one blue, and the other a buttery chiffon. The way they draped flattered any figure, but she wasn’t super crazy about the colors. She shrugged, not really wanting to say no, but she needed to see her other options.

The fourth model strutted by and Casey’s jaw dropped. The red halter dress had a knot of fabric just under the bust that flowed down to floor.

“I think we have a winner,” Linc said.

She glanced up to him. “I love it, but there’s no way I can pull off something like that.”

Linc grinned devilishly. “Try it on.”

“Let me finish her up and then you can have her,” David said possessively, clutching her shoulders but not taking his eyes off of the designer.

She had a feeling David had a crush on Linc. Unfortunately, Linc was one hundred percent heterosexual. She’d seen the way he’d flirted with the models. All of them. And he exuded that same kind of manly power as Nick. They made her think of those older, handsome guys on the fancy beer commercials who traveled the world and lived exotic lives—with equally exotic women.

She was so out of her league.

David turned the chair away from the mirror, refusing to let her see the finished product until he was completely done. As her long hair tumbled out of the rollers she caught a vision of soft blond waves out of the corner of her eye.

She pulled at one of the curls. “I love the color.”

David slapped her hand away. “You don’t touch this hair, do you understand? If it starts to fall, just go to the ladies room, bend over, and shake it, girl. Shake what your mama gave you. Then flip it back up. But don’t touch it. It’s meant to be sexy and soft.”

For the umpteenth time that night, she rolled her eyes. David gently thwacked her on the head with the comb just before he teased the crown of her hair to give it some lift.

Twenty minutes later she was dressed and teetering in the most beautiful shoes she’d ever seen. The Christian Louboutins crossed her feet and ankles delicately in crystal and silver works of art, but she felt like she was walking on her toes.

She prayed there would be chairs at the party. And food. She should have grabbed more cheese from the platter Nick brought her. Who knew getting gussied up was so exhausting?

David clapped his hands. “Okay, bring out the full-sized mirror,” he ordered Dana and Nikki. He beamed and winked at her. “I love this part.”

He turned the mirror around and Casey’s brain misfired. There was no way that was her. No. Way.

The dress played to her attributes, making the curves of her body more an asset than the bane of her existence. The makeup brought out her eyes and had turned her lips into luscious pouty things she didn’t recognize but had always wanted.

Linc handed her a small, jeweled purse in the shape of a genie lamp. “Every girl needs a bit of whimsy to remind her that life is a game and it’s all about having fun.”

Casey found her voice and gushed, “Oh my goodness. You guys. I feel like Cinderella times a thousand. I can’t believe what you’ve done. Thank you so much.”

Everyone clapped, and she wondered where Nick was.

“Wait until he sees you,” David said as if he’d read her mind. “He might be the one you’ll need to keep off with a stick tonight.”

“Him?” Linc teased. “How about me? Don’t let the CEO steal every dance, I want you to save me at least two.”

She loved that Nick’s friends were so kind to her. Nobody knew more than she that this was just for pretend, but they were trying so hard to make her feel like a real princess. She didn’t want to let them down.

Everyone but David moved to the front of the store.

“Own that dress, darlin’,” he ordered. “Lift that chin up and know you’re a powerful and strong woman. Gorgeous beyond belief, and I can tell you have a kind soul. You’re jumping into a den full of jackals that will try to eat you up, but you got more going for you than all of them put together. It shines through like nobody’s business.”

She sniffed, feeling slightly teary from his kind words. “You’re so sweet. But it’s not like that. I’m only here to help poor Nick to scare away doting mothers who want to marry off their daughters. He’s one of my best friends.”

David’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever you say, darlin’. But you need to fake it until you make it. Trust me, looking like you do right now, you
will
get the evil eye from the female population at the party. And that’s a very good thing. Now, let’s go see your
friend
,” the stylist snarked.